If I had a nickle for every time I was in a fandom, known for making a fancomic and as soon as its finished, stopped making art for that fandom because the fans were so chronically online - I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it WILL happen twice at this rate =_=

I've been wanting to switch to original art more, I think it's time to focus on my own stuff as well.

small rant: i think whitewashing in the mcyt fandom goes unnoticed a lot, and i'm not talking about the skin tone.

while whitewashing skin tones still happen, i think people have to realizing that skin tone is not the only thing that distinguishes a poc. if you look at pictures of poc, their facial features and hair may look vastly different from what white people look like!

eurocentric features include lighter skin, bigger eyes, smaller and pointier noses, less full cheeks and lips, and straight hair. and if you look at the way most people draw creators of color, you might realize that a lot of artworks can depict the cc with the correct skin tone, BUT they are seen with the most eurocentric of features, which is a big problem! why is it a problem? because people have always called eurocentric features ideal in terms of aesthetics and beauty, and this ideology even bleeds unto the way we draw people. as someone with small eyes and a big nose, it sucks to see so many people completely sabotage the way most cc's of color look like. not only is it not accurate but it's also upsetting for us poc to see that others aren't embracing the way we naturally look like.

i don't want to show actual drawings here, but to give examples of what this type of whitewashing can be: drawing quackity with a sharp nose when his nose is slightly flatter. drawing ponk with a thin face, small nose, and straight hair when he has fuller cheeks, a bigger nose, and curlier hair. drawing tapl with bigger eyes, a thinner face, and smaller nose when he has thinner eyes, a fuller face, and a bigger nose.

i know some people can be concerned because you don't want to accidentally draw poc as offensive caricatures of themselves, which is a valid concern, especially when it comes to drawing noses. but honestly? it's not that hard to avoid. just think: am i drawing emphasis on a single feature and making it comedically bigger than the rest of the drawing? drawing characters with bigger noses is not bad y'all! it just is when you're doing it for comedic effect + trying to portray someone evil. but if you begin drawing poc with bigger noses in more casual and innocent art pieces, it may lessen the negative stigma people may have when it comes to people with big noses! (same logic applies to smaller eyes btw, or any feature a poc might have!)

we've grown up creating art with tutorials made by white people, which is why it may be hard to diverge from art styles that only know how to draw white people. but it's not bad when you can't do it immediately— it's only awful when you recognize this yet don't attempt diversifying your art style at all. drawing poc correctly is so important because CORRECT REPRESENTATION MATTERS. i don't think i should give an explanation for this since this is pretty self-explanatory, but damn is it rough to see people completely erase a poc's features just to appeal to eurocentric aesthetics. as someone who somewhat sees their features in people like quackity, tapl, and ponk while also seeing that the fandom erases those features hurts and hits hard. think of the message that might send to every person who looks like those cc's.

tldr; whitewashing doesn't just mean the lightening of skin tones, it means erasing features most poc's have and replacing them with eurocentric features. please try your best drawing poc's correctly!

ps. not related but i need to get this message across as well: please also remember that poc is not an adjective. poc stands for “person of color”, and when you say poc cc for example, that becomes “person of color content creator”. instead, use “of color” after nouns! for example, “content creator of color”, “streamer of color”, “women of color”, etc. if not, use “poc” as a noun!